MASON CITY – An expensive pavement marking program has empowered bike-riders to take to the streets, and the Mason City Blue Zone program is warning all citizens to be on the lookout for markers along the roadways.
The Mason City Blue Zone program announced today something most people have already noticed – that Mason City has started street markings for “shared streets” – where motorists are reminded that bike-riders have equal right to use the streets. The cost to taxpayers for these markings and others related to biking have helped skyrocket the cost to mark pavement in the city 167%.
One distinctive road-marking design taxpayers purchased is recognized by shared lane markings, or “sharrows,” a new pavement marking now recognized in the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). Sharrows, made up of a bicycle symbol and a directional chevron, fill three primary functions: 1) They provide route continuity for cyclists. The sharrow helps assure riders that they are on the bikeway system and moving along a street that is intended for bicycle use; 2) Along with other signage, they increase motorist awareness of bicycles on the street; and 3) Properly placed, they help bicyclists position themselves safely on a street away from the “door zone” of adjacent parked cars.
Many bicyclists have welcomed the “sharrows” and bike lanes that have been painted, saying that now, people in cars are forced to recognize bike riders.
“I feel safer out there,” a bicycle enthusiast told NIT. “It’s about time. I get scowled at while riding my bike sometimes. Now, instead of giving them the finger, I just point at the sharrows.”
Others, however, are not so happy with the new markings.
One NIT reader wrote in with the following complaint: “Now that our streets are marked for bycicle traffic, we are wondering why they do not need a liscense or need to obey traffic rules. We register our cars to be able to drive on city streets. Now we will have [bicycles] riding in car lanes and holding up traffic making many people angry. I think at one time bycicles needed to have a plate on them.”
